Signaling device



May 23, 1933.

l F. A. HERNANDEZ S IGNALING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 8, 1932INI/ENTOR.

fafobf I BY May 23,v 1933- P. A. HERNANDEZ SIGNALING DEVICE Filed June8, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

. i vvv' Qimov Patented May 23, 1933 UNITED- STATES,

Leiazis PAUL A.. HERNANDEZ, or OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA SIGNALING DEVICE -Vapplicati@ 1151.@1- rimasi,

'5 tures, is. ideally adapted for passenger car use as, due to thesefeatures, the device when in; non-signaling position, projectsaumi'nimuindistance`y from the side: of the. car on which it is mounted.

The usual signaling device, especially sition isabnormally large andprojectsover thoseV which incorporate a signal, arm,y usuallay are toosmall when in signaling position te be. practical, or, the housing inwhich the arm is concealed-when in nOnsignali'ng` potooV great an area.p i

i It isfor these reasons that this invention was evolvedand in. whichcase the' signaling arm is made collapsibleor foldable so as to require.a minimum. of: space when. in nonsignaling position.

The main ob'ect of the invention is. to provide a foldable orcollapsible signaling arm for `direction ,signals which will require aminimum of space when in non-signaling po* sition, and yet when inextended orsig'naling position, will be of suilicient. larea to.providea. conspicuous and practical signal.

Another object of the invention is toI provideV a signaling arm asoutlined which will 'automatically fold or collapse when brought tovnon-signaling position and which will au.- tomaltically open and becomefully extended 5 when moved from ther non-signaling to sig:-

naling position.

A further object of the invention' isto' provide a signaling element asoutlined with means for. controlling the signaling arm and 40 lockingthe signal arm in various signaling' positions. p i v @ther objects and'advantages1 of the invention will become apparent as the followingdescription is read on the drawings forming. a part of' thisspecification and in tion in, signaling', position showing various1932.. serial. iraniani-7.

parts in section to clearly indicate. various connection-s andoperating'means.

Fig. 2`is a front elevation of the invention showing the signaling arminfoldedtposi-v tion within the case' or housing,'the housing for the armandv the housing'for the Voperat-v ing or controlling means beingindicated lin section. i I

I-Fig'. 3' is a side velevation of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4- is a section taken on. line of Fig. 2. Fig'. 5' is `Va sectiontaken on line-5 -5 of Fig. 2. i

Figli is a view ofthe control and locking lever, showing the handle iinsection for indi'catingA the spring urged plunger.

Fig. 7' is an outside view of lthe control housing. Y

Fig.` 8` is a section taken on line 8-8 of F ig.. 5i and showingthesheave in full.

9. is a fragmentary view showin-g, the signal arm in Vpartly foldedposition as is assumed when the arm is` intermediate nonsignaling andsignaling position Y f The'invention. consists of an arm 10' which is:p-ivoted at 11 within ali-ousing 12',- which i being of suliicient widthto fully conceal the arm, the side of the housing being open to permitentrance Vandexit ofthe arm.

The arm 1(9"pre-ferabl'y is madehollow', and has aspring drum 145formed'between the front and back walls of Vthe arm-'10y im which. thevolute spring 15 is mounted, one endV ofthe spring being.' securedftofthe interior of. the drum: and the/other end of theI spring beingsecu-red to ther shaft-11 which isnon-rotatably lined inthehousing 12. ip

livotallly-mounted on.A the other end. of the arm as indicated atv 16',Yare two cooperative hand. elements 17 and 18 which are adapted to foldtogether soas to require a minimum space equal, toy the width of the armwhen folded, and which when extended as shown in Fig. 1, form a completehand'. These members '1,7 and 18 are4 provid-ed with projections Y 19and 191 which are'` in alignment when the l hand is opened, and whichare adapted to cooperate with a stop 20, which may consist of a pin ormay be the terminal of the inside wall of the arm. A lug 21 is madeintegral with the forward edge of the hub 22 of hand portion 18, and astop member such as a pin 23 is lixedly secured in thev hand portion 17,the hand portion 18 being relieved as at 24 to permit hand portion 18 tofold over onto band portion 17. c u

The operating means for closing the hand and folding the hand back on tothe arm consists of a pinion 25 which is iiXedly secured to the handportion 18,and which cooperatesY with a rack 26 having an extension 27which is slidable between the inside wall 28 and a ledge 29 fixed to theinterior of the arm, providing a slideway for themember 27. A pin 30 issecured at the upper end of the eX- tensi'on 27 and is adapted to beslidably received in the recess 31 formed between the stop member 32 andguide 33. Stop member 32 projects over into cooperative relation to thepin 30 and is secured to the inside of the housing 12. The lug 34integral withdrum 14, retains the element 27 in a certain relativeposition when the hand is in signaling position. v

' The controlling and locking .means for the arm consists of a housing35 which is mounted on the inside of the car at any convenient point andin which is rotatably mounted a sheave 36, the shaft 37 being rotatablymounted in the housing 351, and having afiixcd to its outer end, a lever38 which is provided with a handle 39 and a push button lock release 40.A iiexible element 41 cooperates between the sheave 14 and sheave 36,the spring 15 normally retaining the arm in closed or.non-signalin gposition.

A guide 42, which is concentric with the drum 14, cooperates with thepin 30 and retains the hand in open position as the signaling arm ismoved to various signaling positions.

The control housing vis provided with a plurality of lugs 43,concentrically disposed about the lever shaft 37, the projections43being spaced apart to provide recesses 44 for cooperation with a tooth45 which is integral with a sliding member. 46 for lockingthe arm'invarious signaling positions.

The control ylever consists of a lever portion 38 and handle 39, thelocking portion 46 having a recess formed at 47 adapted to clear theprojections 43, the upper portion 48 of member 46 having ixedly securedthereto a plunger 49 terminating in the push button 40, the push button40 operating in a bore `50 which terminates in a seat 51, the spring 52cooperating between the seat 51,and the undersurface of push button 40for urging the push button outwardly, and the lug 45 into a space orrecess 44. A slot 53 permits reciprocating motion of the member 46 onshaft 37.

A lighting element consisting of a lamp 54 is mounted in a housing 55having a side slot 56 formed therein so as to illuminate the arm as alsoto shield the light from advancing 'or following vehicles and one ofthese lighting'elements may be placed on each side ofy thehousing 12 ifso desired.

Theswitch for the lighting element consists of a disc of insulatingmaterial 57 which is iixedly mounted on the sheave 36 and which isprovided with a recess 58 which is in registry with 'the spring finger59 when the arm is in non-signaling position, the terminals of therecess 58 forming'cam surfaces.' A cooperating spring linger Gis adaptedfor contact with the linger 59 when the finger 59 is urged outwardly bythe cam surfaces kand when the linger 59 'rides on the outer surface 61of the insulating. disc 57. Terminals 62 and 63 are providedrespectively for the fingers and 59, the finger 60 being insulated fromthe mounting screw 64 which. provides the terminal for the finger 59.The operation of the deviceis as follows:

The arm in non-signaling position is shown in Fig. 2, the hand member 18being folded over on to the hand member 17, and thefolded hand membersbeing folded back on the arm 10, lever 38 being in a vertical positionyand the electric switch being in the position shown in Fig. 8 orinfopen` circuit.

In this position pin 30'is resting in the re- ,Y

cess 31 and retains the handY by cooperation of the rack 26 with pinion25, in the position indicated.

By depressing button 40, thus releasing lock member 45 from cooperationwith the ,.1 5

recess 44 and moving lever 38 to the position shown in Fig. v1, rack 26is retained in its relative position while the arm swings outwardly andopens the hand by cooperation with the pinion, the distance between thelocation of the pin 30 and the pinion 25 increasing as the arm is swungoutwardly, and on reaching the position shown in Fig. 1, the hand p or`tion 18 has been drawn back into cooperation between the ylug 19 and thestop 20 and thc lug 21 cooperating with stop 23 on member 17 `alsobrings the member 17 around to its relative position as related to themember 18.

By this time the pin 30 has ridden out of the recess 31 and is nowretained in its posi,- tion by the lug 34 on drum 14 and rides in therecess formed between the drum and the arcuate traclr42 which retainsthe hand in open position when the lever 38 is move-d to other signalingpositions.

It will be not-ed that this arm may be arranged to beset and locked atany position from vertically downward to vertically upward and that whenthe arm is moved to the vertically downward position that the last ornal movement folds the hand up against the arm Within the housing 12 andfolds the tWo portions of the han-d one on the other so that the handWill only require the same space as the arm and avery compactnon-signaling position structure is thereby provided.

As the arm is swung from non-signaling position, the cam surfaces formedby the recesses cooperate With the nger .59 and urge this finger intoContact vWith the terminal of finger 6() completing the electric circuitto the lamp 54, lighting the lamp which remains lighted so long as thearm is in signaling position. Y Having described an operative device itwill be understood that variations in the construction and arrangementof parts which are consistent With the appended claims may be resortedto Without -detracting from the spirit or scope of the invention orsacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

I claim:

l. A direction signal comprising a signaling element consisting of anarm portion and two foldable hand portions pivotally con-- nectedtogether, means for automaticallyr folding said hand portions togetherand then folding the folded hand Within said arm portion When said armportion is moved to non-signaling position.

2. In combination With a signaling arm and controlling means therefor; atwo-part hand pivotally secured to said arm, means for automaticallyfolding said hand on said arm when said arm is moved to non-signalingposition, movement limiting means for said hand, and means limitingmovement of one part of said hand relative to the other part.

3. In combination Withya signaling arm and controlling and locking meanstherefor; a two-part hand pivotally secured to said arm, means forautomatically folding the parts of said hand together and then foldingthe folded hand within said arm as the latter is moved to non-signalingposition, movement limiting means for said hand, means limiting movementof one part of said hand relative to the other part, and a housingadapted to receive and conceal said signaling arm when folded.

4. A collapsible signaling element consisting of an arm portionand atwo-part hand portion pivotally conn-ected together, movement limitingmeans for one part of said hand portion relative to the other part,movement limiting means for both parts of said hand portion relative tosaid arm portion and means for automatically moving said hand portion tofolded and open position respectively When said element is movedrespectively to non-signaling and signaling posi- 'Y tion. Y

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

PAUL A. HERNANDEZ.

